Taken by Surprise
by Aquaformer
Summary: Slugbug and Kryptonight certainly know how to make a mess of things when they arrive on earth to help the Autobots, but is there coming their doing or something more? Warning: slash, m preg, adult themes
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, they are owned by Hasbro. The mysterious bot that takes Optimus is my creation and the Autobot seeker at the end is my creation as well. This is based in TF Animated. Optimus gets taken from behind. This has slash and m preg. No like – no read. No flames or harsh comments. Constructive criticisms welcome. Enjoy!

Optimus was standing at the monitor watching for Decepticons, completely unaware that he was being watched. Optimus knew that Prowl was out on Patrol with Bee, Bulkhead was with Sari, and Ratchet was busy in the med bay. Sentinel Prime, Jazz, and Ultra Magnus were on Cybertron, though Ultra Magnus had let Optimus know that he would be getting two new bots on earth, as the Cons seemed to being using the planet as their home base. Optimus asked when the new arrivals would arrive, but Magnus could not say exactly when, as these two were very well known in slipping in. Optimus had no idea what that meant, but having forgotten about the conversation, Optimus refocused his attention on the monitor.

Across from the monitor was a large vent that provided air to the recreation room. Inside the tunnel was a full grown bot who was well known for sneaking in and out of places without being seen as well as being an excellent spy in gathering information. Right now this spy was watching his newest target: Optimus Prime. The spy could not help but think that the young leader was so handsome as he stood there. The broad chest, the pert aft, and the confident attitude of the young prime was revving this silent bot's engines.

Suddenly the lights went out. Optimus was worried as the power had never gone out before. And the stranger thing was that Optimus could not call any of his teammates. Whatever was happening, Optimus would have to handle on his own. Optimus used his own optics as lights to try and see what was going on, but whoever was in the room with him was too nimble and quick for the young Prime.

And just as Optimus was going to check something out, he felt a presence behind him. And while Optimus was startled, something told the young leader that this presence was no threat. Optimus did not relax though, as this was still strange. The bot, knowing it caught its target, began to run his hands along Optimus's backside, finding all manner of sensitive wiring in the young leader's upper torso. Optimus, for as much as he wanted to resist what this presence was doing to him, was too enthralled and filled with lust to try and attempt to stop this presence from taking what it wanted, which seemed like to be the young prime himself.

The mysterious bot smiled, as he ran his hands over the young Prime's body, causing the fire engine to shiver in nervous anticipation and blind lust. And when the mysterious bot whispered something in the young prime's audios, Optimus was too far gone to not oblige, and soon Optimus had his interfacing panel removed, his arousal jetting out from his body stiff, throbbing, and leaking lubricant while his virgin front port was leaking copious amounts of lubricant as well, as Optimus had never found someone who seemed to know his hotspots so well, not even Elita 1 before he had lost her.

Optimus was lost in the sensations as he felt a stiff throbbing arousal near his virgin port. Optimus was overly eager to have that searing hot arousal in his port, but the mysterious bot was gentle, somehow sensing that Prime was a frontal port virgin. Optimus moaned lustfully as the bot bent the young prime over onto all fours and then the mysterious bot slowly and carefully entered the Prime's virgin port while continuing to play with various wires as well as the Prime's hardened arousal. Prime felt the pain when the mysterious bot gently plowed into the young leader's virgin port, but the mysterious bot was slow and careful and gave the young Prime a chance to adjust before the sneaky bot continued pumping, languidly pumping in and out of the young Prime. Optimus was in heaven as this bot loving took the young leader.

Optimus could feel his lust and systems slowly warm as the bot continued his pace, making the whole experience wonderful for both bots. And soon, the mysterious bot asked Prime a question. And through the lust-induced haze, Optimus gave his answer as his spark emerged and floated upward. The mysterious bot was glad to see the lovely sight.

The mysterious bot gently stroked the powerful spark, causing Optimus to moan even more in pleasure-laden bliss before the bot revealed his own extremely powerful white spark, though Optimus did not see it, as he had offlined his optics awhile so that he could just enjoy the wonderful sensations that this bot was giving him. As the two sparks merged, Optimus felt something extremely powerful about this bot that had just taken him, yet this bot was unassuming and quiet. And it was then that Optimus first "saw" his mate before the leader overloaded hard, with his new sparkmate overloading hard into him. Optimus was sure that his new sparkmate had impregnated him, but that did not matter to the young leader, as he would do anything for this sparkmate of his.

After having overloaded into the young leader and after the intense loving session that had indeed impregnated the young leader, the mysterious bot, though slightly smaller than the leader, managed to carry the bigger bot back to the young leader's quarters. The mysterious bot, upon seeing his sleeping mate, curled up on the berth next to the young leader, placing and arm around Optimus. The young spy was thrilled as he had captured the bot he had sought so long as his sparkmate. And with one last kiss, Slugbug sent one last loving pulse to his sparkmate before falling into recharge next to the young leader. Optimus, deep in recharge, smiled, as he felt the loving pulse from the white and gold racer in his own spark. And happy to have found such a wonderful sparkmate, Optimus sent a pulse back.

Elsewhere in the base, the lights came back on. And an Autobot seeker that had been hidden elsewhere in the base, found his way in and was watching the monitor when all the Autobots returned. And once Kryptonight introduced himself to the others, none of the others were worried. Though none of them would learn until later about the bot that had taken their leader as his sparkmate or the fact that Optimus was now carrying sparklings. It was going to be interesting to see what would happen when the rest of the crew found out about what had happened while they were gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, they are owned by Hasbro. The mysterious bot that takes Optimus is my creation and the Autobot seeker at the end is my creation as well. This is based in TF Animated. Optimus gets taken from behind, and now the aftermath. This has slash and m preg. No like – no read. No flames or harsh comments. Constructive criticisms welcome. Enjoy!

Optimus woke the next morning slightly confused about what exactly had happened the night before, as he felt someone right next to him with an arm around the red and blue bot's waist. And while Optimus wanted to panic at first, his spark calmed down as it realized that this was Optimus's sparkmate. Optimus was puzzled, because as of yesterday afternoon he had no sparkmate, and now he did. But before Optimus could process much more, he felt something coming up from his tanks, and he ran to the washroom and began to purge his tanks into the waste unit.

Slugbug, having felt his sparkmate get up in a rush, heard the sound of tank purging and realized that it was Optimus. And not one to let his sparkmate handle things alone, Slugbug sauntered into the washroom and kneeled down to rub the back of his sick sparkmate. Optimus looked up into Slugbug's gentle yet piercing golden optics. Optimus got lost in them, as he could sense the love from his sparkmate.

"Optimus, I think we should get you checked out by Ratchet or Kryptonight" stated Slugbug, matter-of-factly.

And between purgings, Optimus managed to ask one question, "Who is Kryptonight?" before returning to purging his tanks.

Slugbug, realizing that Optimus had no clue who he and his brother were, introduced the two of them, "My name is Slugbug, I am an Autobot spy sent by Ultra Magnus. My twin brother is Kryptonight he is an Autobot seeker and a medic. I am sure he can take a look at you if you want to avoid Ratchet."

Optimus's tanks settled down and he lay back against the white and gold racer, wondering what this all meant. Slugbug had an idea in his spark, but he was not sure that Optimus would want to hear it. and so, feeling that Optimus would not want to wonder out like this, Slugbug called his twin via their twin bond. And soon Kryptonight was on his way. Kryptonight was a little irritated, as he had spotted a mech that he had wanted to go after, but when Kryptonight realized why Slugbug had called him, Kryptonight quickly checked the young leader out, and found that yes indeed, Optimus was carrying sparklings. Slugbug held his passed out sparkmate as Kryptonight left. Slugbug knew what Kryptonight was going to do and wished the bot luck.

Meanwhile, Ratchet, Bee, Bulkhead, and Prowl were wary as to what was going on, as Optimus had yet to show up, there were strange noises in the base, and the new Autobot seeker puzzled them, as Optimus had not told the others of the new recruits that the earthbound crew was getting. Prowl and Ratchet were the most suspicious, though Kryptonight was very forth coming about himself, and Ratchet was surprised that the seeker medic had been sent, as the group already had a medic. Kryptonight stated that he was sent because he and his twin never were separated for good reasons. The trouble was that none of the others, other than Optimus, had even seen the white and gold racer, who was now trying to revive the young leader.

Once Optimus was back in the berth, Slugbug headed out, knowing that it was important to meet the others in the group. Slugbug silently slipped into the recreation room just as Kryptonight was leaving. The twins shared a quick "wink" before the seeker left. And when the others turned around, they were shocked and awed to see the small, unassuming spy bot, who introduced himself as Slugbug. Prowl was suspicious as was Ratchet, but Slugbug appeared to have no weapons, and a bright Autobot symbol right on his chassis that stood out since it was red and he was white with gold trim.

Meanwhile, back in the berth room, Optimus got up, feeling better, but still not believing that he himself was carrying. And when he realized that his mate had snuck out of the room, Optimus decided it was time for him to get up and meet with his crew. Soon enough, Optimus was ready to meet the others, though he was still sure that Ratchet would realize that something was different. But putting worries aside, Optimus headed to join the other bots.

When the young leader entered the room, he was greeted by a sight, Slugbug was talking with the rest of the bots like nothing had happened. Optimus had a small smile when he realized that this quiet unassuming bot was more powerful than any of his team realized. Yes, Slugbug had no weapons visible in his robot or car form, but Optimus had already realized what was most powerful about this spy bot, his spark. And upon entering the room, Slugbug addressed the young leader as Optimus should be addressed, as Optimus and Slugbug realized that now was not exactly the time to reveal their secret.

Ratchet watched carefully as Optimus came in to the room. The medic, having been around the block more than any of the other bots, could see that something was different about their leader, as if he was more confident, but Ratchet was not sure why, though it might have to do something with the new recruits that had just showed up to help tilt things in the Autobots favor. Whatever it was, Ratchet was bound and determined to get to the bottom of it.

Slugbug watched the reactions of the other bots carefully and noted that the old medic was suspicious, but Slugbug had anticipated that, as Slugbug's twin was a medic and they always seemed to sense more than what was going on in front of their optics. Slugbug knew that he and Optimus would have to get Ratchet alone to tell him before their secret was exposed by him to everyone else. Slugbug watched as Optimus came in and addressed the young leader like the others did, so as not to alert them to what had happened the night before. But before Slugbug could answer anymore questions, he felt his twin call him, as the medic had gotten in over his head. Slugbug soon left, leaving two bots completely confused, 2 suspicious, and 1 more emotional than usual, though it did not show yet.

Outside, Slugbug soon caught up with Kryptonight who had captured the seeker that he had been seeking as a mate. The blue and red clone tried to cry out, but Kryptonight had silenced the egomaniac. Slugbug was in shock as he realized what Kryptonight had done – captured the most maniacal seeker clone as his mate. Slugbug could tell that Kryptonight had already interfaced with the bot, as the bot was still out from the overload. Now Slugbug and Kryptonight had a problem – how to explain that they both now had mates and while Slugbug had taken Optimus by Surprise, Kryptonight had claimed the egomaniac Thundercracker as his mate.

Slugbug sighed, as he knew it would be him that would have to explain this all, as Kryptonight sucked at explaining something like this. Slugbug was not looking forward to the questions as Bug and his twin headed back to the Autobot base, with the delusional captured clone in tow. Slugbug knew that if Ratchet was suspicious before, he would be even more so now. And with that unpleasant thought running through his processor, Slugbug slowly crept back to the Autobot base, hoping that he could cover the mess until the Cons were taken care of, but that was not what was going to happen.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, they are owned by Hasbro. The mysterious bot that takes Optimus is my creation and the Autobot seeker at the end is my creation as well. This is based in TF Animated. Optimus gets taken from behind and now the aftermath of the twins' unplanned chaos. This has slash and m preg. No like – no read. No flames or harsh comments. Constructive criticisms welcome. Enjoy!

Slugbug made his way back to the Autobot base with Kryptonight and the knocked out seeker in tow. Slugbug was not sure how he was going to explain what was going on, but he knew he would need to before everything blew up in the twins' faces.

Meanwhile, back at the base, Prowl and Bee had gone on patrol, and Bulkhead had headed once again over to Sari's place to pick their little friend up. The only two left at the base were Ratchet and Optimus, and Ratchet was not one to let issues drop.

"What's up with you this morning?" asked Ratchet, curious as to why Optimus seemed different than usual.

"Nothing, why?" replied Optimus, trying to hide what had happened from the nosy medic, but Optimus would soon learn that it was not that easy to hide things from the old medic.

"Something is different about you. And don't argue with me. Besides, you are due for your yearly maintenance exam, and I plan to find out exactly what is going on" declared Ratchet, which silenced Optimus, as he realized he had no choice. Besides, Optimus was curious as to why he had thrown up this am.

Meanwhile, as Bee and Prowl were out on patrol, Bee asked Prowl a strange question.

"Prowl, did boss bot seem different to you this morning?" asked Bee, as something seemed strange, especially since they found the two new bots in the base.

"He seemed slightly different, but that could be just that the two new recruits came when they were not expected" replied Prowl coolly, though he was just as curious as Bee.

"But things just did not seem right. I mean, who was that white and gold Autobot and who was that Autobot seeker?" asked Bee, who had forgotten that long ago he had grown up with the two, though they were much older than he was.

"The white and gold one was Slugbug, I remember him from when we were young. And the seeker is his twin, Kryptonight. But what I want to know is why they came now" replied Prowl, who was starting to suspect that there was more going on between the young leader and the white and gold racer than met the optic, but he kept his mouth shut as Bee was well known in blabbing secrets.

Across town, Bulkhead picked up Sari and the two began to drive around the city. Sari, who had not yet met the new recruits, could tell something was off with Bulkhead this am, and so being the good friend that she was, she asked the bot point blank.

"Bulkhead, what is bothering you? You are unusually quiet this am" stated Sari, able to tell that she had hit a sore spot as Bulkhead jerked to a stop. "Ouch! What has gotten into you?"

Bulkhead was not exactly sure how to answer her query, and so he told her what he was processing. "Well, we acquired two new recruits, a racer and an Autobot seeker…"

"Wow, well that is good, we could always use more teammates, but come on, something is bugging you" interrupted Sari, who realized again she had hit a difficult spot as Bulkhead jerked to a stop once again.

"Well, ever since they showed up, Boss Bot has been acting weird and things have just felt different, as if there is a secret that we shouldn't know about" replied Bulkhead, satisfying Sari's curiosity for the moment and the two drove on in silence.

Back at the Autobot base, Kryptonight arrived first and stuck the seeker that he had caught in a secret brig cell in the basement, hoping to hide the bot until he could explain to the others what was going on. And not too long after Kryptonight arrived, Slugbug returned, and feeling a strange calling in his spark, Slugbug headed right for the med bay, even though Slugbug had never ever liked med bays. And in arriving in the med bay, Slugbug saw Ratchet examining Optimus. And feeling as if their secret would soon be exposed, Slugbug entered, much to the surprise of Ratchet.

"What is going on in here?" asked Slugbug, seeing that Optimus was shaking, and feeling the overwhelming nervousness being sent over the bond.

"well," replied Ratchet, calmly, "We have just found that Optimus is bonded and is carrying sparklings. The thing is, I can't figure out who Optimus would bond with, as he has been so forlorn since losing Elita-1."

Slugbug, hurt by what Ratchet had said, soon piped and revealed the secret, "I am the guilty one, Ratchet. I am Optimus's sparkmate. I arrived last night. I have been spying on Optimus for a long time, always having loved him from a distance, though he never knew. And when I saw him vulnerable last night, I decided to go forth with my plan. I did not expect to create sparklings, but I knew the bond was so right, I just couldn't help it." And with that Slugbug looked down to the ground, optics averted from the medic.

Ratchet was floored by the revelation, as he had not expected things to be so strange. "You, Slugbug, You are Optimus's sparkmate and the father of the sparklings?" asked Ratchet, finally grasping what had happened.

"Guilty as charged" replied Slugbug, in a short and sweet reply, his own nervousness about being in the med bay starting to show. "We wanted it to remain a secret as I did not want to cause problems."

Ratchet sighed, as this made things more complicated, but not as complicated as they were going to be once the Autobots realized that Kryptonight had captured, bonded to, and impregnated a defiant con, but that much was still a secret as Slugbug had no idea how many surprises Ratchet would be able to take this day. And after a clean bill of health, Slugbug led the young leader out of the med bay and back to the young leader's room, where the two, excited about the sparklings that Optimus was carrying, began to interface yet again.

Meanwhile, in the brig, Thundercracker was coming back online. He felt sore as well as sick, as if something in his tanks was not agreeing with him. What the egomaniacal seeker did not yet realize was that not only had he been captured, he also had a sparkmate and was carrying sparklings. But in not too long, Kryptonight's little secret would be out, and then the twins would have a lot of explaining to do to all the bots.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, they are owned by Hasbro. Slugbug, Kryptonight, and the female triple changer in this story are my creations. The dragon that shows up is the creation of and used with permission from Gshepherd17 on DA. This is based in TF Animated. Optimus is expecting, new bots are coming to earth, and Kryptonight's little secret is out of the bag, at least with Ratchet. This has slash and m preg. No like – no read. No flames or harsh comments. Constructive criticisms welcome. Enjoy!

Slugbug slowly traced his hands over the broad chest of his sparkmate, eliciting little moans. Slugbug was getting slightly tired, but his pregnant mate, Optimus, was insatiable when it came to interfacing. In fact, Optimus had yet to come down from the last overload the two had shared together. Optimus was enjoying the feeling of the ghostlike touches that Slugbug was placing on him, especially on the young leader's broad chest. Slugbug was doing his best to get Optimus to fall asleep as Ratchet had said that it was important for a carrying bot to get plenty of rest. _Easier said than done_ thought Slugbug as he slowly realized that he was getting closer and closer to causing Optimus to fall into recharge.

And after 10 more earth minutes of gently stroking the bot, Slugbug finally managed to get his pregnant mate and leader to rest. Slugbug was not sure what to do next, as how were they supposed to let the rest know that their leader was now carrying life inside of him. Slugbug sighed, this was not going to be easier, and things were about to get more complicated.

Meanwhile, Kryptonight stealthily went to see his jailed sparkmate in the basement of the abandoned car factory. Thundercracker, the egomaniac was recharging fitfully. Kryptonight reached out with his own slightly more powerful spark and soon woke the defiant bot.

"What do you want, Autoscum?" asked the defiant seeker, who did not realize that he was already bonded to this Autobot as well as carrying sparklings.

"I wanted to check on you, hon" replied Kryptonight in his deep, caring tone, which startled the egomaniacal seeker.

"Why would you want to check on me? I want nothing to do with you, Autobrat!" spouted the Con.

"Because, it is the duty of one sparkmate to check on the other, no matter where they are" replied Kryptonight as if nothing was wrong.

"Why in Primus's name would I bond with you? You are not even worth licking the dirt off my feet" retorted the Con before he felt a powerful surge go through his spark.

"That is not what you said last night, when we had fun" replied Kryptonight with a glint in his optic, which freaked the con seeker out.

"What do you mean?" asked the con, starting to realize that things were not exactly as they seemed.

"We bonded last night, and if my training serves me right, not only are you my bondmate, but you are also carrying my sparklings. Oh, and I wouldn't try anything fancy to either get out of here or destroy the sparklings, as I have my ways to punish you severely without me being hurt" stated Kryptonight, silencing the egomaniacal Con seeker, who just walked away, still not believing the Autobot seeker who was talking to the bot.

Meanwhile, as Prowl watched the monitor, two more bots were getting close to earth. These bots did not identify themselves. And since Prowl had taken the leadership roll between himself, Bee, and Bulkhead, Prowl ordered the other two to roll out with him to see who these two new bots were and hoped that they were not more Cons in disguise.

Out in the city, two bots were getting ready to land. One looked like a dragon and the other was a triple changer, and both looked distinctly like a mech, though they were not mechs, but femmes. The dragon, who landed first on her backside, was named Scarclash while the larger femme, who could either be a jet, car or a robot, landed on her aft. Both quickly got up, though the triple changer was a bit faster getting up than the dragon, but soon both were on their feet and looking around the town. These two more ancient bots had many marks on their chassis from fighting, and both soon hoped that they would locate the bots they sought.

Back at the Autobot base, Optimus was recharging while Ratchet was in the med bay. Down in the makeshift brig, Kryptonight was once again giving the smarty-con that had tried to smart off to the Autobot seeker a time that the defiant con would not forget, as the lust filled clone was moaning and squirming under Kryptonight's tender ministrations. The clone was unable to fight off the Larger Autobot seeker as Krypto plunged his cable in the clone's port once again, rendering the formerly defiant bot silently moaning once again. The rest of the Autobots were out and about trying to find the new bots who had just landed on the ground, hoping that they were more Autobots and not more cons.

Optimus was unconsciously rubbing his abdomen in his sleep. Optimus thought he would be scared about having sparklings growing inside him, but something made him feel calm and at peace. Optimus, though he did not know where his sparkmate was, could feel his sparkmate's powerful spark watching over him, as if it was always present. And when Optimus felt the slightest bit out of sorts, something about Slugbug's spark seemed to know about it and would smooth things over. Optimus soon realized that his sparkmate was far more powerful than the small bot let on.

Ratchet, on the other hand, was starting to wonder what the strange sounds coming from the basement were. And seeing no one else around, as Slugbug had left with the others to greet or fight the new bots that had just landed, Ratchet searched around until he found a door that led to the basement. And as the old bot got closer, he recognized the sounds as two bots just reaching overload. But being the nosy bot that he was, Ratchet pressed on.

And the look on Ratchet's face when he found out what was going on, as he found a Con seeker laying flat on his back, passed out in obvious pleasure with Kryptonight, the Autobot medic seeker laying on top of the clone, cable still deep inside the clone's port, was priceless. Ratchet's jaw dropped, as he laid optics on the sight. Kryptonight, having managed to not pass out, finally shot his load off, disconnected and then looked up. And Kryptonight's normally blue and silver face burned bright red as he realized that he had been caught by Ratchet. Ratchet, seeing that the con was in a makeshift brig locked the con away, grabbed Kryptonight by his left audio, and dragged the younger bot out of the basement.

And as the two went up the stairs, Kryptonight's tanks were a little unsteady as he heard the older medic say, "You and I have to talk – NOW!" Kryptonight cringed, but having little choice in the matter, Kryptonight allowed himself to be dragged to the med bay. This was not going to be easy to explain and Kryptonight wished that his brother was there to help, but nope, Kryptonight was on his own.

Ratchet led the younger mech to the med bay before the older mech sat down and said "You have exactly 2 seconds to tell me what was going on, or I am going to extract the information from you in the most painful way possible." Kryptonight swallowed hard, as this was not how he had hoped that the older mech would learn his secret. But hoping to avoid any more pain, Kryptonight decided that the best idea would be to tell the older medic what he wanted to know, but where to start?


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, they are owned by Hasbro. Slugbug, Kryptonight, and the female triple changer (who happens to share a name with Slugbug's sister who is also my creation) in this story are my creations. The dragon that shows up is the creation of and used with permission from Gshepherd17 on DA. This is based in TF Animated. Optimus is expecting, new bots are coming to earth, and Kryptonight's secret is out of the bag, at least with Ratchet, who offers up his own surprise twist in the tale. This has slash and m preg. No like – no read. No flames or harsh comments. Constructive criticisms welcome. Enjoy!

Kryptonight, though normally not easily intimidated, stood there slightly shaking as Ratchet glared at the seemingly young Autobot seeker, daring the seeker to explain himself. Kryptonight wished Slugbug was there, but no, it was not to be and Kryptonight was left on his own to explain his own actions.

"well…" stated Ratchet sharply and curtly, "I'm waiting."

Kryptonight sighed heavily and then began to confess his "sin" as if he was in a confessional box. "All I can say is that my spark fell for the Con seeker that we now have imprisoned. I first spotted him a few weeks back when Slugbug and I first hit the planet…"

"You mean to tell me that you twins have been here for weeks undetected by either side?" interrupted Ratchet, angrily surprised and shocked.

"Yes, sir" replied Kryptonight, trying not to show that Ratchet was intimidating him, "I followed him around, seeking out the best place to catch him. He never saw me or anything, and then a couple days ago, the same day that 'Bug bonded to Optimus, I found the perfect way to capture the bot I had loved from afar. And having bonded to the bot, I checked TC over myself and found that he is in fact carrying my sparklings." The room grew silent as Ratchet stewed. Kryptonight just hoped and prayed that Ratchet would not try to disassemble him.

Meanwhile, as the others minus Optimus drew closer to the new arrivals, all of them, with the exception of Slugbug, were in shock at the sight of the two giant war-ravaged bots. Prowl remained in his cool demeanor as he looked at the dragon and the triple changer. Bee and Bulkhead hung back but Slugbug remained calm, as he knew in his spark that these two were not there to harm them. And while Prowl, Bee, and Bulkhead watched carefully, Slugbug deliberately approached the two.

"Welcome to earth!" stated Slugbug to both Aquaformer and Scarclash, both of whom looked at the unassuming bot and then at each other before Aquaformer spoke.

"Thank you, Slugbug. We are Autobots, you need not fear us. My name is Aquaformer and this dragon here is Scarclash. We crash landed here by accident, as we were trying to throw a few Cons off our tails" replied Aquaformer in her deep yet feminine voice, which shocked Prowl, Bee, and Bulkhead, but not Slugbug, as he had seen these two elder femmes before. Scarclash said nothing, as she knew it was not her place to talk yet.

"Y-Y-You mean you're both femmes?!?!?!?" responded Bee nervously, as the dragon eyed him, though the triple changer held her back.

"Yes, we are femmes, but we were built long ago" replied Aquaformer.

"I know," replied Slugbug, "As I have a sister who was named after you."

Bee, Prowl and Bulkhead just watched as the two interacted. However, before too long, Prowl regained his voice and spoke up.

"You mean to tell me that these two are Autobot femmes?" asked Prowl in his cool manner, though Slugbug and Aquaformer could tell that there was a slight wavier to Prowl's voice, though neither said anything about it.

"Yes, we are Autobot femmes! Sheesh! How many times do we have to tell you…" started Scarclash in her abrasive, scathing yet feminine voice.

"Scar, settle down. These Autobots have never met or seen us before, so behave" Aquaformer interrupted Scarclash, causing the dragon bot to back down and the others to realize who was the leader of the pair.

Slugbug laughed, as he had heard these two go at it before, and Scarclash always deferred to Aquaformer. Scar, seeing that Slugbug was laughing, began to laugh as well, puzzling Bee, Bulkhead, and Prowl. Aquaformer, tired of the run around and wanting to find somewhere to rest for a bit spoke up.

"Alright, enough pleasantries! 'Bug, lead us to the base" boomed Aquaformer, causing Slugbug and Scar to shush up while Bee, Prowl, and Bulkhead transformed, knowing that they were going to move out soon. Slugbug soon transformed, as did Aqua and Scar, though they changed to their jet forms. And so the group headed off for the Autobot base.

Meanwhile, Kryptonight stood there, frozen, still hoping that Ratchet would not deactivate or disassemble the Autobot seeker. Ratchet continued in silence for a while longer, before speaking and putting the blue and silver Autobot seeker out of his misery.

"Why?" asked Ratchet, "Why did you feel like you had to hide that from me and then let me catch you in the act? I could have helped you. I have been a medic for a long time and I have found, how shall I say it, ways of taking care of things. Oh don't worry, they are still fine by Autobot code, but they just help things." Kryptonight's jaw hit the floor before the blue and silver seeker passed out from the shock. Ratchet, having anticipated the reaction caught the seeker before he could crash to the ground and laid the seeker on a berth to recover. Ratchet had to laugh at how many of the younger bots thought he knew so little about the drive for a sparkmate. And after making sure the seeker would be fine, Ratchet went back to his work, as if nothing had happened. After all, it was not his job to reveal medical information of one bot to the others.

Soon enough, the base was bustling again as Slugbug, Prowl, Bee, and Bulkhead arrived, bringing Aquaformer, Scarclash, and Sari with them. Optimus, having gotten up from nap, came out to see what was going on and was caught off guard by the two huge femmes that now stood in the recreation room, however, thanks to the link with his sparkmate, Optimus already knew what was going on, at least as far as the two femmes were concerned. However, the fact that Prowl, Bee, and Bulkhead were still in the dark about the fact that their leader was sparkbonded and carrying sparklings led to an interesting situation, as the three wondered just how Optimus knew so much about what was going on, though none were close to the truth.

And in the med bay, Kryptonight began to come to. Remembering the words of the older medic, Kryptonight was soon planning in cahoots with Ratchet about how to change the still defiant seeker that still was secretly imprisoned in the basement of the base. Boy, was TC going to be in for a surprise when these two finally put their plan together.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, they are owned by Hasbro. Slugbug, Kryptonight, and the female triple changer in this story are my creations. The dragon that shows up is the creation of and used with permission from Gshepherd17 on DA. This is based in TF Animated. Optimus is expecting, new bots are coming to earth, and Kryptonight's secret is out of the bag, at least with Ratchet, who offers up his own surprise twist in the tale. This has slash and m preg. No like – no read. No flames or harsh comments. Constructive criticisms welcome. Enjoy!

In the brig, TC sat and considered his all of his options, which were few if any. He absent-mindedly rubbed his left hand over his abdomen, unaware that his systems were already aware of something he was not, or at least something he did not believe was true. How could he be bonded to an Autobot? And where the frag did the Autobots find an Autobot seeker? Thundercracker cared not, as he was still so full of himself that he was bound and determined to find a way out of this mess, not realizing of course, that since his sparkmate was a seeker, the sparkmate knew all the tricks the defiant con would try to get out of the brig. Thundercracker, finally frustrated by all his failed efforts, sat down on the lone bench in the brig. This was not going to go as he had hoped.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Optimus came out to greet the new Autobots, both of whom even towered over him. Optimus was slightly startled by their enormous size, but thanks to an unseen message and jolt from his sparkmate Slugbug, Optimus regained his confidence and welcomed the two femmes to the base.

"Welcome Aquaformer, Scarclash. To what do we owe this honor?" asked Optimus, receiving a strange look from Bee, Bulkhead and Prowl, as neither femme had told the leader their name.

Aquaformer responded in her deep yet feminine voice, "We came to help the Autobot cause. We were being chased on our way from Cybertron and crash landed here, after making that Con blow up and have to return to Cybertron for repairs."

Aquaformer blunt and forward manner seemed to bother the leader until the leader received another message from Slugbug that Aquaformer was a higher up in the Autobot army, and then Optimus realized that he was dealing with someone who possibly could be a prime just like him.

Bulkhead, bored at the whole conversation, walked off with Sari, as neither really cared what was going on, as long as it did not involve the Cons or them. Bee, while slightly scared of the dragon looking femme, was starting to feel strange, and not wanting to feel it any more at the time being, Bee ran off to join Sari and Bulkhead, while Scarclash went to find a room to crash in as she was tired. That left Slugbug, Prowl, Aquaformer, and Optimus in the room. Prowl wanted to know what was up with Optimus and Slugbug, as the ninja bot had a suspicion about those two, but not wanting to embarrass either in front of the newest arrival, Prowl walked off.

Unknown to Prowl, who had just walked off, Aquaformer took a look between Optimus and Slugbug and before either could say anything, Aquaformer spoke up.

"You picked a good mech, 'bug. Hopefully your brother was just as wise" Aquaformer stated leaving Optimus in shock and Slugbug smiling with embarrassment, "Don't worry, I won't say anything." At that Prime and Slugbug relaxed. Optimus knew that once he could get Slugbug in private, he would have to ask more about these two new arrivals, as it appeared that Slugbug knew more than he was letting on.

In the med bay, Kryptonight was floored by what the older medic had suggested. Kryptonight realized that Ratchet was not quite the grouchy old fart he made himself out to be. Ratchet had quite a few tricks up his sleeve that the older medic had learned long ago during the previous war that had ended quite some time ago. Kryptonight was thrilled that the older mech was not going to disassemble the young seeker medic, but was willing to help the young one capture his sparkmate so that the sparkmate, Thundercracker, would be a loving a loyal Autobot. The big concern that Kryptonight had was the unsparked seekerlings, but Ratchet told the medic not to worry, as Ratchet knew a way to get the defiant con to come to the right side without harming the sparklings. All it took was just a little bit of knowhow, and the information stored inside a very large and intimidating femme.

After all was somewhat quiet, Prime was left watching the monitor for Con activity. Slugbug came down, and seeing and sensing no one around, the slightly smaller mech wrapped his arms lovingly and gently around the leader, kissing the back of Optimus's head. Optimus felt the warmth, and while he wanted to interface so bad, Optimus knew that he could not, as this was his shift. Slugbug, happy just to be near his sparkmate, stood next to the fire engine as the bot watched the monitor. Suddenly, Optimus quietly broke the silence.

"How did she know, Slugbug? We haven't told anyone other than Ratchet and Kryptonight?" asked Optimus, still worried about what Aquaformer had whispered about earlier.

"Optimus, my love, Aquaformer also has a powerful spark like mine. She knew because she could sense it. She also contains valuable information that if it were to ever fall into the Cons hands, the Autobots would be destroyed. She was feeding that line about chasing a Con off and crashing here. She left Cybertron without getting orders and the others are trying to find her and Scarclash" stated Slugbug, shocking his poor sparkmate, "but you can trust her not to tell, as she has kept a secret that only other than Ratchet, you, and her know about me, dealing with my spark, so you can trust her."

Optimus smiled at that, and feeling comforted by his sparkmate, Optimus went back to work. They had been standing together for most of Optimus's shift, which left only a few more minutes until it was over. Slugbug, wanting to send a particular message to his mate, gently kissed the leader while running his hand over a particular place on the fire engine, causing Optimus to softly moan, but soon the strokes stopped, leaving Optimus horny and frustrated, as well as determined to get to his sparkmate as soon as Bee came to relieve the Prime. And not soon enough in the Prime's mind, Bee came to take over, watching curiously as Prime darted off to his room. Bee was left to wonder _What crawled his tailpipe_? as Bee took over monitor duty.

Meanwhile, sitting atop his tree, Prowl had many thoughts going through his mind. The first was that there was something different about Optimus though the ninja bot could not figure out just what exactly it was, but something was off. And then there was the twins – Slugbug and Kryptonight. Something had changed since prowl had known those two when they grew up. And then the two new femmes, Scarclash and Aquaformer. Prowl did not exactly care for the dragon, who was intimidating at best and scary as the pit at worst, but something about Aquaformer seemed to puzzle the ninja bot, but seeing that an busy processor was not going to let him sleep, Prowl pushed his curiosities aside and fell into a restless recharge.

Sari and Bulkhead as well as Scarclash were all in their own places and sound asleep. None of them caring or aware that anything was slightly off, but they all figured that when it effected them, someone would tell them, and so the three snoozed on.

Bee, while busy covering his shift, was nervous, as those femmes were scary and the fact that even Prime had been intimidated slightly by Aquaformer did nothing to quell Bee's nerves. But for as scary as Scarclash was, Bee sensed something special about her. Bee, deciding that the others would slag him if he missed an approaching Con, soon put the thoughts of Scarclash aside, though he filed them away, as they might be worth thinking about later.

Ratchet, having been up with Kryptonight half the night finally had made their plans for changing the con over to the right side. The only thing hindering it was asking if Slugbug, Aquaformer, or Scarclash would be willing to help, as each held some special information that was required, though Aquaformer or Slugbug would be better as they contained possibly more of the needed info. Kryptonight and Ratchet went to check on the captured seeker, who was sleeping curled up in a ball on the uncomfortable bench that was in the cell. And with a questioning look, Kryptonight could only hope that Ratchet had everything right.

Elsewhere, Aquaformer had left the base without being seen by either a Con or an Autobot. She had a lot on her mind. She had figured out pretty fast that both Kryptonight and Slugbug were bonded, Slugbug to Optimus and Kryptonight to one of the clone seekers. Aquaformer had to shake her head when she realized that Kryptonight had to pick the most obnoxious Con seeker to be his bondmate, but then Aquaformer had never known the stubborn Kryptonight to go for a normal, quiet bot. But the thing that seemed strange was being on this planet, as she did not felt like she belonged her, as she felt that her own knowledge was a threat to all those who were under this base. But she did not know where else to go, as the Elite Guard and the Cons were after her. But one thing she was sure of, that she was going to do her best to blend in, and hopefully then this whole thing would blow over, but she knew deep in her spark that that was overly optimistic. And with lots on her mind, Aquaformer took off to fly once again. She was a night owl, and since darkness was her waking time, she used it to fly around and figure out all the sensory overload she had going through her processor.

Once the sun rose, Aquaformer headed in, so as not to be spotted. The other bots were just rousing and soon it would be time for things to get more interesting, as Prowl had noticed one slight thing – someone was purging their tanks every morning. Slugbug was worried, as he knew the time was coming that both he and Kryptonight were going to have to reveal their secret sparkmates. The question was – how would the others react?


	7. Chapter 7

Aquaformer was long gone by the time the rest of the Autobots got up. She even had surprised Saberquake at being gone. Slugbug wasn't surprised, as he could sense that she had Autobots and Cons on her tail. Slugbug looked to his new sparked mate. "I don't think that we can keep our secret any longer, as your men are worried about you, Prime" Slugbug said.

Prime sighed, he didn't want to tell them as he feared they would no longer respect him, but he figured his mate was right. "Yes, Prowl and Sari have been suspicious of my actions and reactions. It may be best to let the others know. "

"We wouldn't be the only one revealing a secret. My twin Kryptonight has now found a mate, a con seeker that he has been keeping in the basement in a makeshift brig and who is sparked. Krypto will have a lot mnore explaining to do than you will" Slugbug reassured. That didn't make Optimus feel any better.

"You mean a no-good con knows where this base is?" Optimus asked, furious at the Autobot seeker and Slugbug.

"No. He has no clue where he is and his communication devices have been disabled. Ratchet has been working with Kryptonight to change the defiant seeker to being an Autobot. That Con has no idea that he is still on earth. Krypto told me had had told the seeker that they were on a distant planet out in space somewhere, and Thundercracker believed him after not being able to communicate Slugbug said. And while it didn't completely soothe Optimus, it calmed him somewhat.

Meanwhile, Aquaformer had found another place to hide. She was at the bottom f Lake Michigan, hoping the colors of the water hid her for now. Her metallic plating was water tight and she could make her coloration fit the coloration of the water, as long as the water was an aqua blue like she was. She had to keep hidden. As she alone knew secrets that could end the war for either side. Her only hope was to keep one step ahead of both sides.

Meanwhile, back at the base, Krypto, ratchet, Optimus and Slugbug had called a meeting. They were surprised to see everyone but Aquaformer, but they decided to press on. "there have been some recent developments that we feel you must know" Optimus said, SLugbug pulsing loving calming pulses as he spoke. "I haven't been myself recently as I am with sparklings from my sparkmate, Slugbug."

Bee's jaw dropped, Sari had a look of shock on her face, Bulkhead scratched his head, Saber quake smiled, while Prowl smirked. He had suspected something like this. Bee passed out before Krypto could speak. "That is not the only news…Krypto" Ratchet said, nudging the seeker medic slightly less than gently.

"I also bonded and have a sparked mate. He has been in a makeshift bring in the basement because it is Thundercracker" Krypto fessed up. The others reactions varied from shock to anger, with no one moer aggravated than Prowl.

"Prowl, cool your jets. I have been working with Krypto and we plan to fix this bot into being a good little Autobot seeker" Ratchet said, which calmed Prowl slightly. Prowl knew that if Ratchet was working on this, things would get righted.

"By the way, has anyone seen Aquaformer today?" Bulkhead asked.

"Nope" said Scarclash.

"Not me" said Optimus

"No, I haven't" Ratchet said.

"Nor have I" prowl said, and the rest pretty much said the same thing.

"I have a feeling she is still on the run" Saberquake said, before she thought about what she had said.

Bee, who had finally come to, asked, "What do you mean?"

"Aquaformer has some dangerous secrets. Her knowledge could tilt this war either way. She doesn't want to fight, she just wants to be left alone. We left Cybertron after Sentinel had been harassing us and Ultra Magnus refused to do anything about it as he was too focused on the war effort. Sentinel threw us in the brig, hoping to get us to talk, but we broke out thanks to Aquaformer's knowledge" saberquake said. Now the others could see why the pair had left.

"Optimus, it is not all as simple as that" Slugbug said. "Aquaformer and Ratchet were teammates and fought together in the last war. They shared many secrets as well. Ratchet is just as much in danger as Aquaformer. My twin and I weren't sent here by Ultra Magnus, we were sent here by a higher power – Primus" Bug revealed.

The others sighed, as they knew all these revelations meant nothing but trouble frm both sides. And if that wasn't bad enough, a message was coming in. Optimus put it up on the big screen.

"Optimus, Optimus, came in you slag excuse for a bot" Sentinel called.

"I'm here, what did you want, Sentinel" Optimus said, unaware slubug had hidden the others.

"We just learned some good for nothing femmes escaped. Ultra Magnus and I plan to come to earth stat. You better have some answers. Sentinel out." Optimus sighed. Things had just gotten a lot more complicated for all.


	8. Chapter 8

(See previous disclaimers)

Optimus groaned loudly, as the last thing he needed now was for Sentinel and Ultra Magnus coming to complicate things even further. It was already bad enough that Optimus was bonded and sparked, the femmes had arrived, and one had disappeared, and to top it all of, a top Autobot seeker medic had bonded to a wild Starscream clone who was being thoroughly reprogrammed. Things couldn't have been timed any worse.

Optimus wasn't sure what to do, but SLugbug could feel the stress Optimus was feeling. "You need to rest, love" Slugbug said gently.

"But I can't….there is a war…loose Decepticons…and an old friend turned rival coming…"Optimus said.

"You have to lower your stress or you will lose our precious little ones" SLugbug said with a little more force.

Optimus swallowed. He hadn't thought of that. "I…I will?" Optimus asked nervously.

Slugbug sighed. "A carrier bot's systems are already under much stress in carrying the sparklings. Too much additional stress can force a missparking or worse" Slugbug gently explained to the exhausted leader. "By the way, its time for you to see Ratchet. We need to see if we can figure out how many precious lives you carry." Optimus could only nod. This was so not what he had planned to happen when he was reassigned to being a maintenance bot thanks to Sentinel's out and out lies as well as Optimus taking the fall for what had happened by admitting the part he had truly played in the loss of Elita-1.

Slugbug sensed the intense feelings and pulsed love over the bond as the pair headed for the makeshift med bay. Sari happened to be there, with her special key. Slugbug gently helped Optimus onto the berth and then the pair waited for Ratchet to come over and check on Optimus and the developing little ones. Sari merely watched, as this was absolutely fascinating and had piqued her curiosity. That, and the all spark always reacted very strangely around Slugbug, as if it knew something about this special bot. Sari hoped that sometime, she and Slugbug would be able to chat alone, but that time was not now.

Slugbug hated the med bay with a passion, and was glad to see Ratchet come over after a relatively short wait. "Ratchet, could you please scan him and see if you can tell how many sparklings he carries in his chamber?" Slugbug asked.

"I certainly can" Ratchet said, unaware that Slugbug's spark was triggering Sari's key. Primus had plans to help the Autobots. Ratchet scanned, his scanners being guided by some supernatural force it seemed, which was a Primus working through the All Spark. He scanned several times before he could swallow the conclusion he reached. "He….he's carrying triplets…" Ratchet said in shock, as the revelation hit him. Optimus passed out cold on the berth as that was not what he had expected to hear.

Slugbug merely nodded. This meant Optimus was even at greater risk of losing one or all if too stressed out. "Anyway of keeping his stress levels down, Ratchet?" Bug asked.

"Not sure, as with everything going on, and him being the leader of this little team, its easier said than done. And not having any other true leader doesn't help."

Slugbug sighed, as that wasn't what he wanted to hear, but then Bug thought of something. "Ratchet, you may want to be careful of what you say and do when Senitnel and Ultra Magnus arrive, as they are seeking certain information that only you are Aquaformer are known to possess right now, though more so if Sentinel Prime is around" Bug warned.

"Duly noted, but I have my ways of hiding information, ask your twin. Medics are well known for hiding critical information without giving anything up" Ratchet said

"And sentinel creates torture chambers even for Autobots, I have seen them" Bug said, shocking Ratchet, as he thought that was only something that Decepticon or rogue neutrals did to poor unsuspecting Autobots or other neutrals. Slugbug had seen one in use, which was still in use, holding a protected neutral that Slugbug wasn't aware was connected to Aquaformer, as Primus hadn't revealed that particular piece of information to his robotic portal.

"Well, we will have to play our cards just right then, won't we?" Ratchet said, catching the drift. Bug nodded. They both knew what this meant. Secrets were to remain just that – secrets.

Meanwhile, Aquaformer was hiding beneath the waves. She knew she had an old connection that she could try but feared the signal would be intercepted. She had told no one, but she had bonded millennia ago to a bot named Stronghold. And while she knew he was online, he was in one of the Autobot torture chambers that Sentinel had set up. She had to keep fighting and get to Magnus before Sentinel got to her, as once she told her story, Magnus would realize she wasn't the enemy Sentinel portrayed her and her mate as.

Meanwhile, out in space, Ultra Magnus, Sentinel Prime, and Jazz were quickly approaching. Jazz was calm, as was Magnus, but Sentinel was constantly whining, as he wanted nothing to do with a disgusting organic planet and was deathly afraid of organic contamination to the point he had made Jazz a not nervous about organic life as well. Nevertheless, they were on their way and nothing was going to stop them, not even earth being an organic planet.


	9. Chapter 9

(See previous disclaimers)

The ship quickly approached earth, Jazz all nervous from hearing all of Sentinel's horror stories about organic life and organic contamination. Jazz tried not to show he was impressionable, but these stories rocked him. Ultra Magnus sighed. Sentinel was a wind bag and a known story teller. Still, Magnus never had enough evidence to prove that Sentinel was just as involved in the disappearance as Optimus. Magnus regretted reassigning Optimus, but Magnus had had no choice at the time.

Sentinel was pissed that Aquaformer had escaped his grasp, just like Optimus had. Sentinel didn't realize that she knew he was less likely to be willing to follow her if she went to an organic planet. Stronghold had been unwilling to answer any questions no matter how he was tortured by Sentinel. Magnus had no idea what was being done behind his back by a fellow Autobot.

Meanwhile, on earth, Slugbug was tending to his sparked mate. Optimus was under a lot of stress and Slugbug feared that if he didn't carefully monitor his mate, they would lose their precious little ones. Optimus appreciated the support of Slugbug as well as Bulkhead, Prowl, Krypto, Bee, and Ratchet. They all were in support of their leader now that they knew he was with sparklings. Ratchet had also helped reprogram the seeker copy and now Thundercracker was a good little sparked Autobot as well. Krypto was thankful.

Saberquake was supportive but she feared for her friend who had taken off. Cons had been spotted on this organic planet and that meant even more trouble. Saberquake had tried to get in touch with her friend but to no avail. Aquaformer was missing in action. She could be anywhere on this earth, as Aquaformer seemed to be able to hide anywhere of her choosing. Saberquake knew one thing: Aquaformer knew more than she let on.

It was only a couple hours longer before the ship carrying Magnus, Sentinel and Jazz landed on the organic planet known simply as Earth. Sentinel was still whining and moaning. Optimus, seeing little other choice, took his little team and went to meet the craft. Sentinel and Jazz stood behind Magnus as they remained on the ship. Optimus saluted and his team followed. Sentinel growled but was paid no mind.

After the bots approached, a shield went up. Sari was miffed, as was Saberquake. They had been left behind. Sari hopped aboard Saberquake and the two, using sari's key and some help from Slugbug's spark, made it through the shields. Saber released Sari once on board, not realizing doing so would freak out Jazz. Saberquake tried not to laugh as Jazz was jumpy when he met Sari. Jazz had been left to stand guard as the others talked, but Sair easily got her and her friend by.

In the heart of the vessel, Magnus talked with the small crew. Optimus answered questions and challenges from Sentinel while Bug watched. Magnus watched as well. Magnus knew something that Sentinel didn't – Bug was much more powerful than he let on. Magnus could also tell the little one was starting to get upset by all this.

"Sentinel….that is enough" Magnus said, more observant of his surroundings.

"Come on, this reject is the reason we are here…" Sentinel started to say in return.

"Silence" Magnus said, sensing things were getting out of control. "We came here in search of a member of our team, Aquaformer, as we would like to talk to her and understand the information she carries."

"But sir…." Sentinel whined.

"What part of "silence" did you not understand Sentinel?" Krypto asked a bit sarcastically. He always had a way of annoying Sentinel without getting in trouble. Sentinel wasn't thrilled, as Sentinel knew that going after Krypto meant bad things from Slugbug. Optimus merely smiled, as these two were getting away with things that he never could. Sentinel merely growled.

Meanwhile, Aquaformer could sense that Magnus and Sentinel were near, as were the cons. She remained underwater, as she knew if she was found, she was in major trouble, from either side. She missed her mate, but it would do neither of them any good if she was caught by either side. They missed each other, but as long as she was free, they both had a chance to once again be free. They just both prayed that she could get to Magnus before Sentinel or Megatron got to her.

Back at the earth base, Optimus had led his team back to the abandoned car factory. He was exhausted, and the pontificating and complaining Sentinel was driving Optimus nuts. Slugbug shot Sentinel a dark look, and the bot finally shut up and left Optimus alone. Optimus was relieved. Ratchet was concerned about this additional stress as well.

But Bug was way ahead of the game and carefully guided Optimus off to a less busy area. Bug knew Optimus was in need of attention and energon. Bug slowly began to feed his mate before spoiling the bot with much needed attention. Optimus was grateful, as the developing sparklings were taking much out of his systems and leaving him extremely randy at times.

Meanwhile, Krypto snuck to the basement where TC had been kept, as Krypto had learned that Sentinel hated seekers as well, as Sentinel had treated Krypto badly before. TC was a bit nervous until he saw his mate. The reprogrammed clone then settled down as Krypto gave the bot attention.

Elsewhere in the base, Prowl and Jazz were chatting like old friends while Saberquake was chatting with Bee. Sair and Bulkhead had done for a drive as they didn't really want to be in the crowded base at the moment. Magnus watched the screens, for incoming messages as well as for any activity that might spring up. If Magnus realized what was really going on, Sentinel would no longer be in his position. But so far, Sentinel had done a good job of pulling the wool over Magnus' optics, so to speak. But that couldn't last forever, and sooner or later, Magnus was going to discover the truth and then, Sentinel would find himself in a place he never wanted to be in.


	10. Chapter 10

(See previous disclaimers)

Sentinel had already driven all the bots at the base nuts several times over and nearly had a spark attack from meeting Sari and other humans, as he hated organics. Optimus couldn't help but laugh at that one, but he also knew that there were more pressing issues, as Saberquake had been leaving for longer times, as if even she knew something that no one else knew. Optimus just didn't like how things had gone from annoying to how everything felt like it was blowing up in his face, and being moody from being sparked didn't help one iota.

Aquaformer was still missing in, but Slugbug and Optimus suspected that Saberquake was still in communication with her and had an idea where she could be hiding. But before they could figure out where in the universe that Aquaformer was, Sentinel would figure something out about Optimus that he wouldn't like – not like at all.

Ratchet and the others tried their best to make sure that these new visitors knew nothing about Slugbug, Optimus, their connection, Krypto, TC, their connection or the fact that TC and Optimus were sparked. It was easy to keep the information from Ultra Magnus, as he was kept extremely busy by other Autobots reporting in from various parts of the galaxy. Prowl told Jazz in secret what was going on at the base and on earth, as the two trusted each other, and Jazz agreed to keep the secret and even help protect it from those who didn't need to know. He could see why it was important to keep this information secret.

But the hardest part was the nosy jerk Sentinel, who wanted to know anything and everything about what was going on and was not a pleasant bot to be with when he knew other bots knew something he didn't and refused to tell him. And if it weren't for the presence of Magnus, Sentinel would have mandated a debriefing using his Prime status. He was starting to get a sneaky suspicion that something more was going on with Optimus, but he couldn't put a finger on it. He decided to bide his time, even though he wasn't the most patient bot. It was obvious to everyone except Ultra Magnus that Sentinel was digging to find out what was going on.

Meanwhile, Aquarformer, submerged deep beneath the waves, tried to pulse love to her bond mate. She missed him dearly. He missed her just as much. They had long kept their bond a secret, but when Sentinel found out, he captured both and separated them to extract key information from them. So far, only Aquaformer had escaped Sentinel's prison. She hoped that she could get to Magnus before Sentinel offlined her and her mate for what they knew, and especially what she knew. She knew the truth about what had happened to Elita. She knew the truth of what Sentinel had done and did to Autobots. But she also knew how to destroy them, should she need to.

In addition, she had accidentally uploaded vital con data into her processor, which could easily destroy the cons. She knew each bot's weakness and how best to attack, even though she didn't want to fight. She was a nurse bot, one who worked to save bots, not kill them. But it was her extensive knowledge of both sides that made her a prime target from both the cons and the Autobots. Stronghold knew this as well, and supported his mate as best he could. He could only hope that she would hurry, as he didn't know how much longer he would last in the confines of his solitary cell.

Back at the base, Ratchet knew Sentinel was getting too close for comfort, and so he and the others did their best to make sure Sentinel didn't discover what was truly "different" about Optimus. And for now, the constant distractions (as well as the fact that Sentinel was obtuse when it came to noticing size changes) and excuses were working, but they wouldn't work forever. Sentinel was still suspicious, like always, but he had no idea what the real cause, though once he found out, all would be in deadly danger. For Sentinel was not one for being quiet.

And soon, even the cons were going to know that Aquaformer and Slugbug were on earth somewhere and Optimus was sparked with extremely powerful sparklings.


	11. Chapter 11

(See previous disclaimer. Several weeks after last chapter)

Aquaformer was still missing in action and Optimus was in the med bay getting repaired after a dangerous confrontation with the cons who were also hiding here on earth. He had instinctively proctected his abdomen, but that left many deep cuts on other parts of his body. Slugbug was by his side as Ratchet helped repair Optimus while Kryptonight had the unfortunate task of repairing the oafish Sentinel Prime. If it was one thing that Sentinel hated more than organics, it was seekers. Why, no one knew for sure, but those who posited a guess, might have assumed it was due to the fact that the oafish prime was jealous.

"Stop it, Sentinel, or I will make this more difficult and painful for you" Krypto threatened after Sentinel began to bad mouth the seeker medic. Krypto didn't take being dissed and disrespected very well, especially since he was a seeker.

"You wouldn't dare hurt a prime…"

"Don't tempt me…seekers are well known for being nasty when pissed off…" Krypto said, barely refraining from going off on the arrogant prime.

"And I won't stop him" Ratchet said, knowing just how nasty cons could be when mad, regardless of faction. That shut Sentinel up pretty quick. If Ratchet wouldn't protect the prime, no one else would.

"Hrmph" Sentinel uttered in disgust and tried to settle down long enough to be repaired for a minor injury, as he had run from the fray rather than fight it.

Ratchet returned to what he was doing on Optimus Prime. Optimus was patient and quiet as he was worked on but he held a look of worry on his faceplates. "Are…are they ok?" Optimus asked, forgetting about Sentinel was in the room due to his worry.

"Yes…the team is fine" Ratchet answered, trying to shield Optimus from Sentinel finding out.

"Not my team….MY BABIES" Optimus said without thinking. The room went dead quiet. Kryptonight and Slugbug watched, as did Ratchet. They had hoped Sentinel wouldn't find out, but now Optimus had spilled the beans about him carrying sparklings.

"What do you mean babies?" Sentinel asked, too curious for his own good as well as wanting something else to hold Optimus back with. This could be Sentinel's golden ticket, so to speak, that Optimus wasn't fit to be a Prime.

"None of you damn business" Krypto stated sharply, trying to make things harder for sentinel, but it wasn't working. Sentinel had already learned what they had been keeping from him for weeks.

"I knew it. I knew it! Whore bot can't hide anything from me any longer. I knew something was different and now that I know, I will make sure Magnus knows he is unfit for service!" Sentinel exclaimed loudly, not realizing he was angering someone with greater power than a seeker who was pissed off.

"SILENCE" came a booming voice that sounded like it was coming from everywhere yet nowhere. The med bay went dead quiet. Slugbug now looked different. He had grown bigger and his already intense gold optics went deep blue. Not even Ratchet had seen this before. Krypto merely watched while the others back off. Optimus and Krypto were the only two who knew what was going on. "How dare you defy me!"

"And who, pray tell are you?"

"PRIMUS" the voice said in no tone a Cybertronian bot could possess. That scared practically every bot in the med bay, well, every bot except the oafish prime.

"I don't believe you."

"Oh really. Then how come I know you are keeping Aquaformer's mate locked away in one of your torture chambers and that you chased her here because she had information you wanted to use to destroy her and him because they were happily bonded? Or the fact that you planned on using Ratchet and force him to tell you what secrets she may hold? Or how do I know that it was originally your idea to go to that organic planet and it was you who left Elita-1 behind where she turned into Blackarachnia?" Primus asked, shocking all who listened. They had no idea that Sentinel was not quite the good Autobot he claimed to be. The only saving grace for Sentinel was that Ultra Magnus was gone for a bit.

The others were shocked and looked to Sentinel. This was far worse than they had expected. Sentinel looked at the others and tried to deny the truth, but he wasn't very good at it, especially since Optimus knew the truth about the Elita-1 deal. "You…you want to destroy us? Are you really an Autobot, Sentinel? Autobots protect others, help others and promote freedom. What you are doing can be considered Decepticon behaviors" Optimus stated, protective of his team and babies.

That hurt. It hurt deeply, but Sentinel had truly deserved it. "You were competition. I needed you gone so that I could be the next Ultra bot without having to see you and knowing that you knew that I was lying about Elita-1."

Ratchet was now livid as well. "I think we should throw you in our make shift brig, but that wouldn't fly, as Ultra Magnus has no idea of this, and chances are that he wouldn't believe us over you. We just have to find Aquaformer before you do."

That pissed Sentinel off, as even Jazz opposed him. "You too, Jazz?"

"Yes, as my optics have been opened. You are a despicable bot."

While the bots argued and Slugbug protected his mate, none had realized that Soundwave had sent a secretive device under the base to listen in. Soundwave overheard about one of the bots being sparked, but he wasn't entirely sure who it was. But he had left after that tantalizing bit of info. He knew Megatron could use this piece of information to force the Autobots to do what he wanted. Sentinel had no idea that trouble he was about to introduce to the Autobots due to his own mouth.


	12. Chapter 12

(See Previous disclaimers)

Soundwave, upon gathering the important information, headed back to Megatron who had now been fully reassembled and wreaking havoc on earth. Soundwave carefully approached the Con leader. "Information for Megatron" Soundwave said in his monotonous voice that came out in stereo.

"Spill it Soundwave" Megatron ordered. Soundwave played the recording he had of what had been said over at the Autobot base. And while it was a little muffled, the words "babies" came through loud and clear. Megatron smirked. One of the Autobrats was carrying new life. That could suit Megtron's cause well if he could capture the right bot and steal the sparklings for himself. He began to plan, as he had two things to accomplish here and now: capture the sparked Autobot and find and capture Aquaformer.

Meanwhile, Aquaformer was still "missing" to most of her colleagues, though Stronghold and Scarclash knew she was safe and that she was still "on the run." Slugbug even knew where she probably was, but no one was going to give up the location just now, as things were just to vulnerable for her. She hoped that she could come out of hiding soon as living underwater was starting to get to her.

Back at the Autobot base, with the cat out of the bag, Optimus was constantly harassed by Sentinel for anything and everything. It was getting old and annoying. Optimus was moody but he knew that if he struck out at Sentinel he would be put in the brig. It left Optimus little choice. Sentinel loved nothing more than to tease and torment poor Optimus.

Slugbug was getting sick of it, but until Ultra Magnus paid more attention to what was going on, Slugbug had little choice in the matter. Primus wasn't going to go after a bot for merely beign an aft to another bot. Slugbug wished that there was more he could do to get Sentinel to back off. Thankfully, Slugbug had help in that matter as Kryptonight, Ratchet, Prowl, Jazz and Sari truly helped out to keep Sentinel's mouthiness to a minimum.

Also, what didn't help the Autobots was that Sentinel had found out that Kryptonight was bonded to a seeker clone who had been reprogrammed to be an Autobot. Thundercracker had even more volatile mood swings than Optimus did thanks to being a seeker and TC had little reason or ability to control them at times, especially when he was angry at Sentinel. Kryptonight let his mate beat up on Sentinel as the oaf deserved it. Needless to say that Sentinel learned to leave the pair of seekers alone.

Back on Cybertron, Stronghold held on. He knew as long as Aquaformer was free, he had a chance of earning his freedom and the fact that Sentinel was on earth gave Stronghold a break from being grilled for information. But what Stronghold didn't know was that Ultra Magnus was about to find out about the fact that Stronghold was being held captive.

A random Autobot reporting in from the far side of Cybertron was reporting in on the prisoners, and without thinking about he mentioned one more than Ultra Magnus thought they had. "I thought we only had nine in the brig."

"Nine in the brig, sir, and one in complete isolation."

"Who is being held in compete isolation?" Ultra Magnus asked, curious as to what Con they had captured and why he had not been informed of it sooner. It was mandated that any rogue bot be reported to Ultra Magnus upon moment of capture.

"Stronghold sir"

That stunned Magnus completely. "But Stronghold is a loyal Autobot. He has been a security guard on Cybertron for years and never has shown any inclination to go rogue or harm anyone. Why is he completely isolated?"

"All I know is that it was Sentinel's orders sir" the random bot said. That didn't settle well with Magnus. No wonder Aquaformer left on her own, she was trying to save herself and her mate. Magnus knew Aquaformer and Stronghold were bonded. This left many questions in Ultra Magnus' processor.

"And who can release him?" Magnus asked.

"Only Sentinel sir, per Sentinel's orders." That really irritated Magnus, as Sentinel didn't have the authority to prevent the Ultra from releasing prisoners if he so chose to.

"Well, next time I see him, I will have a nice little chat with him."

"Yes sir….Oops, I just read the note that says you aren't supposed to know about this at all…"

"You will not suffer any harm for telling me, as I needed to know this important matter. Sentinel will be dealt with by myself for this abuse of his authority" Magnus said and ended the comm with the random Autobot. Now Ultra Magnus realized he had made a huge mistake when he promoted Sentinel and rejected Optimus as a full Prime and all the duties it entailed. He decided he would make amends once everything was put back the way it belonged. Sentinel wasn't going to get away with his lying any longer once Magnus fixed things, but before Magnus could straighten this out, the cons would attack.

A couple days later, Megatron had his plans all set to kidnap the sparked Autobot, or so he thought. Lugnut and Blitzwing began attacking downtown Detroit to lure out the cursed Autobots. Slugbug forbid Optimus to go, and while Optimus wanted to argue, he didn't. Slugbug stayed close to his mate, having a feeling he knew they were after Optimus. What no one knew was thanks to a secret bonding and facing session, Jazz was sparked as well. And as the fighting continued, Optimus was safe, but Sari, Bee, and Jazz were captured by the cons, along with Kryptonight's mate Thundercracker. This did not bode well for anyone, as even word reached Aquaformer. Her only question was should she reveal herself and risk prison or death to help her fellow teammates? She knew the answer, oh she knew it, but she only hoped it was the right one.


End file.
